A lingering problem with renewable energy is that it is not a consistent producer. But a new battery can store energy for later use, making renewables more cost-effective for business.
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There’s growing concern that tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea could escalate into a military confrontation between China and its neighbors—a confrontation, many argue, that would inexorably […]
Several research projects are currently working to make robots more responsive to children’s needs, and new research suggests that the physical presence of robots helps kids learn.
The latest US Jobs report diffuses concerns about America heading back in a recession.
Female Olympians are rightly angry that their bodies have been criticized in petty ways. The Brazilian soccer team was called “a bit chubby,” and weightlifters have been called “fat” and […]
Google’s attempt at building a piece of hardware to manage your household’s digital media flow has been pulled from the shelves, demonstrating the difficulty of all-encompassing technology.
Today Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan gave a detailed overview of US policy toward Yemen at the Council on Foreign Relations. Marc Lynch over at Foreign Policy has provided the good […]
My latest article has just been published on AlterNet, Why Is America’s Most Progressive Voting Block Often Overlooked? In it, I discuss the strong progressive leanings of American nonbelievers, what […]
Brent Sherwood of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wants the agency to take a hard look at its plans to send humans to Mars, perhaps concentrating on colonizing the Moon instead.
A British computational scientist has built a presentation reminiscent of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, this time showing the consequences of the Earth’s population boom.
Watching the London Olympics, I can’t help but marvel at the dedication the athletes have exhibited to compete on their sport’s biggest stage. For most of these men and women, […]
The freewheeling, rabble-rousing Internet hacktivist collective known as Anonymous thus far has played little or no role in determining the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election. With the exception of partnering […]
Today’s mobile phones are yesterday’s supercomputers, which make them powerful enough to suit the needs of aerospace engineers, who want to create a future of micro-satellites.
A new study authored by some of the nation’s leading climate scientists suggests that droughts and heat waves since 1980 were caused by anomalously high temperature fluctuations.
Now that Curiosity has safely touched down on the Martian surface, it will get to work calibrating its scientific instruments, which will search for past signs of life on the planet.
NOTE: I recommend you click “View Entire Story”, so the endnotes work. When prostitution cases are brought before a judge in Britain, a particular kind of “John” (or customer) will […]
New York, 1964. The World’s Fair is in full gear, as 50 million people make the trek to Queens to see what the future has in store. The exposition showcases […]
Back in May, I reviewed Steven Pinker’s hugely ambitious new book The Better Angels of Our Nature, about the decline of violence through history. I couldn’t do justice to all […]
In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America, as a private membership-based organization, had the right to discriminate against gay people by expelling them or barring […]
I want to issue an apology and a goodbye to many frequent commenters, who I consider my intellectual mentors. Comments are now turned off on the blog. Many will see […]
NASA went for the Gold with the Curiosity space probe, and scored a perfect 10. Perfect start, perfect execution, perfect dismount. And Curiosity is the Godzilla of space probes, with 10 […]
We already know that supercomputers, sophisticated algorithms and mathematical models are at the very heart of the modern financial markets. Now, with l’affaire Knight Capital we’ve just seen how robot traders and rogue […]
If you’ve been watching the Olympics, you’ve been treated to a steady stream of ads for what promises to be NBC’s lamest comedy in recent memory: “Guys With Kids.” As […]
What is the strongest motivation for space exploration today? According to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, it’s the promise of economic return.
The lesson of Toyota, which rippled throughout the auto industry, was that treating workers as collaborators is good not only for their self esteem, but for the financial health of the business. The service economy is just starting to learn it.
An open source text messaging platform developed by Unicef is coordinating humanitarian projects in several African nations, helping to distribute food aid and treat HIV more effectively.
The rise of facial recognition technology has resulted in computers seeing faces in nature where there are none. Does this mean computers are given to the same flaws as humans?
Research shows that cross-generational gameplay can help children learn valuable lessons while simultaneously educating adults about current technology. It’s time to get our game on.
What’s the Big Idea? The goal of technology is to make itself disappear bit by bit. Most major innovations in consumer technology are measured by their ability to make existing […]